Randolph leads shorthanded Knicks past undermanned Nets

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New York Knicks
did not appear to miss Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry nearly
as much as the New Jersey Nets seemed lost without Jason Kidd.

Jamal Crawford scored 29 points and Zach Randolph matched a
season high with 25 as the Knicks overcame the absence of
Marbury and Curry for a 100-93 victory over the depleted Nets.

Marbury was not with New York after his father passed away on
Monday, and Curry was sidelined due to a sprained left ankle
suffered in the morning shootaround. But the Nets were dealt a
similar blow when Kidd was unable to play due to migraine
headaches and looked sluggish on offense.

"You catch a team without Jason and you can see the type of
difference he makes," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "We were
fortunate enough to catch them on a night he wasn't playing. The
Nets are definitely a different team without Kidd, and I'm glad
we didn't have to see him tonight."

Kidd's absence left the Knicks with a better chance for a rare
victory over the Nets, who had won 20 of 24 matchups since
acquiring their star point guard prior to the 2001-02 season.

"I guess we were due," Thomas said. "I feel like we haven't
beaten them in five or six years. They've had our number for a
while."

Nets guard Antoine Wright was also sidelined with an injured
left shoulder and New York took advantage of New Jersey missing
two of its best defenders.

Randolph made 10-of-15 shots from the floor and Crawford was
7-of-17 overall and made 12-of-14 free throws. New York shot 49
percent (32-of-66) overall and made 30-of-37 free throws.

"The good thing about those two guys is they can score the
basketball and they can score when you need it," Thomas said.
"We just tried to keep the ball in their hands."

The Knicks never trailed after the game's first basket and took
their largest lead at 80-66 after Crawford and Nate Robinson hit
consecutive 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter.

Bostjan Nachbar made a pair of 3-pointers during a 9-0 run for
New Jersey, but Randolph answered with a layup and Fred Jones
scored four straight points to again push the lead to double
digits.

After the Nets had again climbed within five, Crawford
punctuated the victory with a 3-pointer over Vince Carter from
the top of the circle with 1:38 to go.

David Lee had 13 points starting in place of Curry and Jones
filled in for Marbury and added 15 for the Knicks, who had lost
their first six road games of the season.

"I thought overall it was still a great victory for us," Lee
said. "With stuff on the court and off, we haven't had the best
week. But this is a very positive thing."

"David and Fred were great," Thomas said. "We said that we
thought we had capable people in the locker room who would step
up, and they were capable of playing and those two guys did an
excellent job."

Richard Jefferson scored 31 points and Carter managed just six
of his 19 points after halftime for New Jersey, which used only
eight players and lost for the fifth time in its last six home
games.

"They were shorthanded, too," Jefferson said. "We had more
than enough out there on the court to win. I'll stand by that
even if we're missing a couple guys."

Without Kidd the Nets started Eddie Gill, who was in foul
trouble throughout the game, leaving Carter with much of point
guard duties. Reserve point guards Marcus Williams and Darrell
Armstrong were inactive with injuries.

New Jersey's frontcourt was also limited as center Jason
Collins, forward Malik Allen forward Sean Williams each
struggled with fouls. Reserve forward Josh Boone was also
unavailable due to migraines.

New Jersey trailed by as many as 10 in the first quarter, when
Randolph had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting. The Nets climbed
within 34-33 on a basket by Allen with 5:48 left in the first
half, but the Knicks responded quickly.

Randolph made a layup to extend the lead and Lee gave New York a
40-34 cushion on a three-point play after he was fouled by
Williams on a fast-break dunk.